DSLR and shipping

I've recently invested in a new camera (my first foray into the world of SLR) and have been busy getting to grips with my new toy, a Nikon D90. My first photography experiments have mostly been shipping so I've been visiting the Great South Wall at Poolbeg to capture some of the ships entering and leaving Dublin Port. You can view the schedule of arrivals and departures at the Dublin Port website here which makes it easier to plan visits knowing that there will be something to see. Between 1700hrs and 1800hrs every day is usually a good time to make the trip as most days there are about five or six arrivals at this time, mostly ferries and Lo-Lo (Lift On Lift Off container ships). However, there are also occasionally some more unusual visitors such as the recent arrival of the car transporter, Asian Legend.

First steps.....

Well, here goes ! I've just figured out how to start a blog and hope to use this as a way of keeping in touch while I do some travelling. Some of you will know that after 23 years of working for a multinational based in Ireland (in the medical devices sector) I have recently been cast free and have decided to use the opportunity to see some of the world before whatever happens next happens. So, in mid November I hope to set off from Thamesport, London to Tanjung Pelepas, Malaysia on a container ship which will be carrying about 4500 40 foot containers. That leg of the voyage will take about three weeks and from Malaysia I plan to travel on to Australia and then Thailand before returning home.

Travelling by freighter is something that has interested me for a while but most of us don't have the opportunity to take three weeks to get somewhere that's just a few hours away by plane. However, if you do have the chance (and are sane enough to take the view that travelling is as much about the journey as about the destination), then there are some lines that still carry fare paying passengers and it is possible to book many voyages worldwide. If you're interested in reading about some experiences of this method of travel, Bob Hartley's book, "Around the world by Freighter" is a good introduction. However, this is NOT an efficient way to visit places en route - my ship will make only one very brief stop (in Port Said) before going through the Suez Canal and travelling directly to Southern Malaysia (assuming that we escape the Somali pirates as we pass the Horn of Africa).